


Growing Into Ourselves

by amairylle



Series: You Deserve Every Happiness [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (Putting this in just in case), Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Growing Up, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kid Fic, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, happy ending I promise, tags will update as the story does
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-11-12 12:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11162100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amairylle/pseuds/amairylle
Summary: Hajime, Koushi, and Tooru, met at age eight, when Tooru and Hajime moved to Sendai and became Koushi's neighbors. Fifteen years later, they're still inseparable, despite and because of everything they've faced along the way.This is the prequel/companion fic to"Sing for Me, I'll Dance for You,"And can be read before it, after it, independently of it, or concurrently with it.Arc 1: 1-?Arc 2:Arc 3:Arc 4:





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, Hajime! I got you a nerd. Take care of him.

Hajime tried to be excited when his mom pulled up to the new apartment building. He wanted to like this whole thing–new apartment, new school, new friends–but he just couldn't bring himself to. As far as he was concerned, there had been nothing wrong with their old apartment, or his old school. Kawanishi had been _just fine,_ and there was nothing Sendai could possibly offer him to make Hajime believe that this had all been worth it.

"You're sulking again," his mom said gently.

"I thought you said it was fine if I was upset," Hajime replied, looking out the window at the building. It was small, two stories high, and beige. Hajime was not impressed.

"It is fine if you're upset," she said. "But if you're going to sulk, would you wait to do so until after we unload the car? We’ve got a lot to unpack."

Hajime looked over his shoulder and sighed. Most of their stuff was in the car with them, and cleaning his room took long enough when he actually knew where everything was supposed to go. Cleaning the entire apartment, when he had to pull everything out of the car and find new places for it, was going to take forever. Hajime didn't want to. Hajime had to. "I guess," he grumbled.

Hajime's mom pulled around the building and into a parking space. "If you're willing to try, then that's good enough for me," she said, turning off the car and handing him the keys. "Why don't you go unlock the door for me while I call the landlord to let him know that we're here?"

"Okay." Hajime took the keys and slid out of the car, taking his backpack and his godzilla plushie with him. The building was no more impressive to him from the back. From this side, he could see the doors to each of the eight apartments, all greenish-grey against beige walls. He looked down at the key in his hand. It had "2C" written on it. He walked over to the stairs on the far end of the complex, pressed up against a stand of slightly overgrown evergreen bushes.

"Hi," said the bush nearest to the stairs.

Hajime dropped the keys. "Um."

"You can say hi back," the bush continued, petulant.

"Hi," Hajime obeyed, after a moment.

"What's your name?" the bush asked.

"Uh, it's Hajime. Iwaizumi Hajime."

"Cool."

Hajime waited. The bush didn't continue. "Aren't you gonna tell me your name?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Maybe later," the bush said. "I have to make sure you're not an alien first."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm gonna ask you stuff."

"Oh." Hajime bent down to pick up the keys, surreptitiously glancing under the bush. A pair of red and white sneakers stood next to its trunk. "I have to help my mom, though, is that okay?"

"That's fine." The bush rustled. "You're moving in upstairs?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"That's classified."

Hajime frowned. "This isn't very much fun if you don't tell me anything," he said.

"I'm having fun!" the bush protested.

"Well I'm not," Hajime replied. "And I'm not gonna tell you anything unless you tell me things too."

"Yeah, but if you're an evil alien then you'll use my answers against me so you can kidnap me and take me to your home planet."

"Why would I want to kidnap you?" Hajime asked. "You're a bush. Bushes are boring."

"I'm not a bush!" the bush squawked. "It’s just my cover."

Hajime grinned. "Are you sure you should be telling me that if I'm an evil alien?"

The bush squawked again. "R-Right! You're right! I'm a bush! I'm definitely a bush!"

Hajime's mom walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What did you find, Sweetie?"

Hajime looked up at his mom, and then back down at the bush, which was shaking a little. "It's a talking bush," he said seriously. The bush sighed in relief.

Hajime’s mom looked from Hajime to the bush and chuckled. "I love your imagination, Hajime."

Hajime opened his mouth to protest, when the bush interrupted.

"I am _not_ imaginary!" it cried. "I am a very real talking bush! And Iwa-chan and I are going to be friends!"

"Iwa-chan??" Hajime squeaked.

Hajime's mom burst out laughing. "All right, all right, I believe you, Bush-chan. I need to borrow Hajime for a bit though, okay?"

"That's fine," the bush replied. "Moving is really busy. I know. I moved in a few days ago."

"Really?" Hajime's mom asked, mischievous. "And I would have thought a bush as big as you would have been here for a while. If you'd just gotten here a few days ago, you'd be a much smaller bush."

The bush made a strangled choking noise. "I'm eight," it said finally. "That's why I'm such a big bush."

"That’s great!" Hajime's mom said brightly. "Hajime's eight too. I'm sure you'll be great friends." She started up the stairs. "You two can talk later, okay? Hajime and I really need to unload the car now."

"Okay!" the bush said. "I’ll be here. Because I'm a bush. And bushes don't move." Hajime snorted - didn’t the bush just say that they moved in few days ago? His mother gave him The Look, and he hurriedly changed his snort into a cough.

She looked back to the bush and smiled dazzlingly. "Of course. Just make sure you don't catch cold – it's not warm today."

"I'll be fine! Bushes don't get cold." The bush paused. "Plus, I have a jacket."

"That's good," she said. "Come on, Hajime."

Hajime followed his mom up the stairs to apartment 2C. She gestured for him to open the door. "I see you've made a friend already," she said.

"I don't even know their name," Hajime protested.

"Just call them Bush-chan," she said. "It's no less ridiculous than 'Iwa-chan.'"

"Mom!" Hajime protested. "I didn't say they could call me that."

"It's cute," she countered.

"I don't care! I don't like it."

"Well, you'll just have to tell them before it sticks."

Hajime stepped into the apartment, grumbling. It was bigger than he expected, with high ceilings and pale wood floors. The balcony looked out on the houses across the street, which wasn't as nice as the forest behind his old apartment, but looked nice enough. "Hey, Mom?" Hajime asked. "Why are there two rooms?"

"One of them is going to be your bedroom," she said, looking slightly smug.

Hajime's jaw dropped. "Mom!" he yelled, absently noting that he liked the way his voice echoed around the new apartment. "You didn't say I was going to get my own room! I thought we were gonna share still!"

His mom smiled. "I wanted you to be surprised. Plus, I thought you might want to have sleepovers with your friends."

The smile fell from Hajime's face. "I don't have any friends here," he mumbled.

"What about Bush-chan?"

"I can't have sleepovers with a bush!" he cried.

"Well, then you'd better coax whoever's down there out of the bush then," she said. "It sounded like they wanted to be friends with you."

Hajime considered this thoroughly, furrowing his eyebrows in absolute concentration. "We'll see," he concluded. "Can I have the room with the balcony?" he asked.

"Yes, you can. Go put your stuff down and then help me carry things up from the car."

"Yes, mom!"

Hajime pushed open the door to his new room. It was a nice size, with a closet and an opening to the balcony. He set his backpack down by the balcony door, and looked outside. Maybe the kid in the bush lived in one of the houses across the street. He ran back outside, taking the stairs two at a time.

It was impossible to tell whether the bush’s occupant was still there, so Hajime shook it gently to make sure. "Hey," he said.

The bush rustled back angrily. “Don’t shake me.” Hajime relaxed upon hearing the voice.

"Do you live across the street?"

"Yeah, the one with the blue roof." the bush said. Then it squeaked. "No, wait, I live right here. I'm a bush."

Hajime laughed and grinned. The house with the blue roof was almost directly across from his window. "If you live on the side facing the street, I bet I can see your window from my window."

"Wait, really? I wanna see!" The bush shook, and a boy toppled out. He was a little shorter than Hajime, but mostly legs, with wild brown hair full of twigs. His jeans were torn and his jacket was unzipped. When he stood up, he had to take off his glasses to pick a branch out of them. His eyes were impossibly wide. He grabbed Hajime by the sleeve of his jacket and tried to pull him upstairs. "Show me!" he shouted.

Hajime pulled back. "At least let me grab something from the car first!" he protested. He went back to the car, pulling out a small duffel bag and a box. "Here." He pushed the duffel into the boy's hands. "If you're going to hang around, you can help."

"Okay!" the boy said brightly as they entered the house.

Hajime led him upstairs. "Now that I know that you're not a bush, will you tell me your name?"

The boy paled and nearly dropped the duffel. "My cover," he whispered. He looked like he was about to panic.

"It's ok," Hajime reassured him quickly. "I'm not an evil alien. I promise."

"You promise?" He looked like he would cry if Hajime answered incorrectly.

"Yeah," Hajime said. "I promise."

The boy slowly nodded. "Okay." he breathed in. "Okay. I believe you.” He breathed out. “I'm Oikawa Tooru."

He smiled at Hajime, and Hajime couldn't help but smile back.

"Tooru. Okay. Come on." He led Tooru upstairs, stopping to hand his box–labeled 'kitchen' in his own messy handwriting–to his mother.

"Are you Bush-chan?" she asked Tooru.

Tooru blushed, shuffling his feet uncomfortably and trying to hide behind the duffel in his arms.

"His name is Tooru, mom," Hajime said. "He lives across the street. He was only in the bush until he could be sure we weren't evil aliens." This apparently was not quite the right thing to say; Tooru only got even redder. "I mean–" Hajime started backpedaling.

"A reasonable precaution," Hajime's mom said, gently but resolutely. "It's nice to meet you, Tooru. It’s so nice of you to help." She smiled and gestured at the duffel Tooru was holding.

Tooru brightened, and Hajime felt himself relax. "It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Iwa-chan's mom!" he chirped, turning back to Hajime. "Is that one yours, Iwa-chan?" he pointed at the door to Hajime's room.

"Yeah." Hajime opened it for him.

Tooru dumped the duffel onto the floor unceremoniously, and pulled Hajime over to the balcony, shoving the door open and yanking them both through. "You were right!" he exclaimed. "That one's my window!" He pointed at the leftmost window on the second floor of his house. "If you get a flashlight, I can send you secret messages at night."

"Won't that be a little obvious?" Hajime raised an eyebrow.

Tooru shrugged. "We'll make up a code. It'll be fine."

"Okay." Hajime struggled to think through what he'd packed and what he'd left at his grandparents' house. "I have a flashlight," he said finally. "I just can't remember which box it's in."

Tooru let out a triumphant yell. "That's perfect! We can start writing the code right now."

Hajime laughed. "I gotta unpack first!" he chided. "A code won't be any good if I can't find my flashlight."

"Hmmm, fine." Tooru pulled Hajime back inside. "I'll help you! Then you'll be done and we can play."

"You don't have to do that," Hajime protested.

"It's ok," Tooru replied. "We're gonna be best friends, so you can pay me back later."

Hajime felt something catch in his chest. "Yeah," he replied. "Yeah, we are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> The first three chapters of this fic are functioning as my birthday presents for Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Suga, so you can expect Chapter Two on June 13, and Chapter Three on July 20.
> 
> Come join me on [Tumblr](http://verdigrisvagabond.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nitid_applegate)!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Excuse me!” Koushi’s mom let go of his hand to catch their attention. Koushi took the opportunity to dart behind someone’s bushes. “My name is Sugawara Hotaru, I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to meet yet. I’m your neighbor, and my son Koushi—” She stopped abruptly when she noticed that Koushi had slipped away. Frowning, she continued. “He’s in the third grade at Katsura Elementary. He’s very shy; please forgive him.”
> 
> From behind the bush, Koushi watched Hedgehog and his mother exchange a look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Koushi! This chapter came out heavier than intended, but at least I gave you friends?

It had been a busy week on Koushi’s street. On Tuesday, he’d gotten new next-door neighbors: A couple who looked like businesspeople, a girl who was probably in middle school, and, most interesting of all, a short, energetic boy about Koushi’s age with wild hair and glasses, as well as an obsession with aliens, from what Koushi could tell from his stuff. Then, on Friday, another boy had moved into the apartments across the street with his mom. Koushi hadn’t been able to discern anything about him, because the entrances to the apartments all faced away from the street, but he was already friends with Alien-boy. Alien-boy had been helping his mother unload groceries when the other car drove up, and had dropped a box of cereal, informed his mom that he was going to say hi, and ran around the other side of the building. Koushi hadn’t seen them again until hours later, when Alien-boy dragged the new boy—Hedgehog, in Koushi’s mind, because of his hair—and Hedgehog’s mother across the street to meet his own family.

They seemed nice. Koushi hadn’t managed to find the courage to introduce himself to either of them, but they seemed nice.

The next week, Koushi found out that they went to his school. He watched them from his kitchen window—Hedgehog was ready first, waiting impatiently in front of the apartment building with his mother. Alien-boy showed up later, dragged by his sister, their parents following after them.

“Aren’t we going to walk to school with them?” His mom gestured to Alien-boy, who was apologizing profusely to Hedgehog and his mother. “Wouldn’t it be nice if someone from the neighborhood showed them around?” Her tone made the sentence into a question, but Koushi knew it was not.

“We can meet them after I’m done eating,” Koushi replied. He shoved his food in his mouth to avoid having to answer again.

“It looks like they’re leaving. I don’t want to have to run to catch up.”

“I know.” Koushi didn’t intend to catch up. He wasn’t sure he wanted to introduce himself just yet.

Out the window, Older Sister was leading the two younger boys away. Koushi pressed his face against the glass to see them turn the corner. They definitely went to his school; the other neighborhood school was in the opposite direction.

His mother sighed. “Koushi, I’m sure they’re perfectly nice. Now stop stalling. We need to go before they get too far ahead.”

Koushi frowned at his still-unfinished breakfast. “We don’t have to be there for another hour,” he told her. “We don’t have to leave yet.” If they didn’t leave yet, he wouldn’t have to talk to them.

She saw right through him. “Let’s go, Koushi.”

Koushi obeyed reluctantly, dragging out the process of clearing his plate and gathering his things as much as he could, earning a little more of his mother’s ire in the hopes that he’d be able to walk to school in peace.

It didn’t work. As soon as they were out the door, Koushi’s mother set a brisk pace and kept a tight hold on his hand, dragging him along until they caught up to his neighbors.

Ahead of him, he could see Hedgehog and Alien-boy chattering to each other while Older Sister ignored them both. Alien-boy seemed to be doing most of the talking, actually, but Hedgehog seemed more than happy to listen. Koushi tried not to feel jealous.

“Excuse me!” Koushi’s mom let go of his hand to catch their attention. Koushi took the opportunity to dart behind someone’s bushes. “My name is Sugawara Hotaru, I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to meet yet. I’m your neighbor, and my son Koushi—” She stopped abruptly when she noticed that Koushi had slipped away. Frowning, she continued. “He’s in the third grade at Katsura Elementary. He’s very shy; please forgive him.”

From behind the bush, Koushi watched Hedgehog and his mother exchange a look. “What an exciting coincidence! Our sons also go to Katsura, and in the same grade, no less. My name is Iwaizumi Megumi, and this is my son Hajime.”

Hajime bowed politely to Koushi’s mother. “It’s nice to meet you. Excuse me.” He brushed past her, heading straight for Koushi’s bush. Koushi, out of instinct, pushed his way into the hedge, letting the leaves hide him. They didn’t do a very good job.

“No way,” Hajime said when he saw Koushi’s pathetic attempt at using the bush to avoid him. “Not you too.”

Koushi blinked at him. Hajime laughed. Koushi flinched.

Hajime stopped quickly. “Oh,” he said. “I’m not laughing at you, I promise. It’s just that that first time I met Tooru, he was hiding in a bush too.”

Koushi found his voice, though it was still small and shaky. “Tooru?” He asked.

As if on cue, Alien-Boy popped into view, creeping up behind Hajime. “Hi!” He chirped. He shoved Hajime out of the way and crouched down right next to Koushi, who edged deeper into the bush.

Hajime pulled Tooru back. “You’re scaring him, idiot.”

Tooru looked from Hajime to Koushi, confused. “I am?”

Koushi nodded.

“Oh, sorry.” Tooru hopped backwards. “We can still be friends though, yeah?”

Something on Koushi’s face must’ve said otherwise. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Hajime said, “but you should probably get out of the bush before your mom gets upset. Here.” He held out a pack of travel tissues. “For your hands. And your face.”

Koushi crept out of the bush, taking the tissues. When he wiped his face, the tissue came away wet. Koushi hadn’t even realized he’d been crying. “Thank you,” he mumbled, handing the tissues back to Hajime. He dusted off his clothes; thankfully, he hadn’t gotten them dirty.

“You have leaves in your hair,” Tooru told him.

“Oh.” Koushi reached up to get them, but Hajime beat him to it. It took all of his courage to not flinch again. “Thank you,” he repeated.

“No problem.” Hajime started back around the bush, pulling Tooru after him. Koushi took this departure as a dismissal, but followed them anyway.

“Koushi! There you are,” his mother said, only barely hiding her exasperation. “Did you make friends?”

Koushi tilted his head in a way that he hoped his mom would take as a yes. Behind their respective parents, Tooru and Hajime exchanged a glance that Koushi couldn’t interpret.

His mom sighed. “Well, we should probably get going, then.” She turned to the other parents: “We’re almost there, but you want enough time to get pictures of all of you before Aiko-chan has to go to be on time for middle school, right? We wouldn’t want anyone to be late.” She gave Koushi a pointed glance.

“I apologize for the trouble,” Koushi said, bowing.

Tooru’s and Hajime’s parents paused at his overly formal speech and demeanor. “It’s fine, dear, don’t worry,” Tooru’s mother said, awkwardly. “Shall we?” She continued, gesturing down the street.

Koushi would have given anything to have run home and not dealt with the rest of the morning, but there was no way that would work out. Instead, he stood stiffly with Hajime and Tooru in front of all their families, while another passing parent took a picture. Hajime and Tooru had their arms thrown around each other, Koushi stood a step or so away. He couldn’t believe they’d only known each other for a couple of days. Then, Aiko and her father left to go to the local middle school, and Koushi’s mother made Koushi give them all a short tour of the school. She still ended up doing most of the talking.

At least during the entrance ceremony itself, Koushi didn’t have to talk to anyone. He had to stand and sit and listen to a lot of boring speeches, but he could mouth the school song, and no one asked anything of him directly. The trouble came after.

When Koushi went to his classroom, he found Hajime’s mother standing outside, talking warmly with Koushi’s teacher. He sucked in a sharp breath and looked in cautiously. His classmates were all settling in, talking about their vacations, except for one. Hajime sat by the window, two seats back from the front, staring out at the cherry blossoms. Koushi had been half-hoping Hajime or Tooru would be in his class, but now that Hajime was there, he wasn’t sure what to do. Should he greet him? Should he wait until tomorrow and hope that Hajime forgot that Koushi had been crying in a bush earlier? Should he not say anything, and let Hajime become one more of his classmates that either ignored or tormented him? Koushi took his seat in the row next to Hajime’s, one seat behind him, and said nothing. Class would start shortly. He could figure it out later.

The new school year always started with Koushi’s least favorite thing: introductions. Scores of them. Each of their teachers spent very little time actually teaching on the first day, choosing instead to have each student introduce themselves and their hobbies. Koushi always did his best to speak as little as possible. It wasn’t enough.

Koushi didn’t listen as the homeroom teacher, Ueno-sensei, made her initial welcome and announced the groups for chore rotations. He didn’t listen as Ueno-sensei called for the first student to make her introduction. The class was still the same as last year. Koushi didn’t have to listen to any of the introductions if he didn’t want to—he wouldn’t learn anything new. But when Hajime stood up, he listened.

“My name is Iwaizumi Hajime.” He paused, as if to put the rest of his words together. Koushi could see his hands shake. “I just moved here from Yamagata Prefecture. Kawanishi.”

Koushi’s eyebrows shot up. That was brave of Hajime to say. It was still obvious that he was new, but to admit it took courage Koushi didn’t have.

“Um, My best subject is math,” Hajime continued. “And I like sports and collecting bugs.” He swallowed. His voice was clear and sure, but Koushi couldn’t take his eyes off of Hajime’s shaking hands. “I hope we can be friends,” he finished, taking his seat.

Well, Koushi thought, the girls probably won’t like him much with hobbies like that. Koushi couldn’t think of a single girl in his class who liked going bug-hunting, and that was probably enough to scare off even the few who liked sports. However, Koushi’s class had always done very well at the school field day, and he knew many of the boys were hoping to join sports clubs. If Hajime could bond with them over that, the he had nothing to be nervous about—he’d have many, many friends. Koushi felt the jealousy bubble up again, and tried to quell it. It wasn’t Hajime’s fault that no one liked Koushi.

When it came to Koushi’s turn, he stood up intending to make is introduction as fast as possible, but froze as he tried to open his mouth. The room was too quiet, and he could feel every eye on him. He wanted to hide.

“Go ahead, Sugawara,” Ueno-sensei said. The class tittered, and she frowned at them.

Koushi waited until they fell silent again. “My name is—” The “s” caught in his mouth, and the sound came out all wrong. His classmates giggled again, louder this time. Koushi took a deep breath, trying not to cry, and started over. “My name is Sugawara Koushi,” he said, his lisp audible in every word of his name. He grimaced. The class laughed louder. “I like Literature and I do ballet,” he said as quickly as he could. “I hope we have a good year.” There were no reasons for the class to laugh in the rest of his sentences, but they did anyway.

The boy behind him stood up. “My name is Takahathi Thouhei,” he said, exaggerating Koushi’s lisp and chuckling. Koushi started to shake, tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. They always laughed louder once Takahashi started. He always made everything worse.

“Takahashi,” Ueno-sensei said, “That’s unnecessary. Please start over.”

“Fine,” Takahashi said, continuing with his introduction normally.

Once the class had moved on past Takahashi, Koushi felt something bump his arm. Hajime was holding out his travel tissues again. He looked absolutely furious, and Koushi couldn’t understand why. “Take them,” he hissed.

Koushi did. He wiped his face as discreetly as possible, then tried to hand the tissues back to Hajime. “Keep them,” Hajime whispered.

Hajime refused to take his tissues back at any time during the rest of the day. Koushi tried, but he wouldn’t take them, not at lunch, or at recess. When Koushi put them on Hajime’s desk while he was in the bathroom, he just handed them back with a gentle smile. Afterwards however, his brows furrowed and the angry frown settled back on his face. In the end, Koushi used most of the tissues. The first day of school was always really hard on him.

After class, Koushi hung back, hoping to avoid the bulk of his classmates and walk home alone, ideally without getting cornered on the way. Hajime hung back too, packing his books with an unnecessary slowness.

“Hey,” he said, tapping Koushi’s arm to get his attention. “Um,”

“I’ll get you another pack later,” Koushi replied hurriedly, trying one last time to hand the tissues back.

“What? No. It’s fine.” Hajime stuffed his hands in his pockets before Koushi could press the tissues into them. “They’re just tissues. I have more.”

“Oh.”

“Um,” Hajime started again. “Are they always like this?”

Koushi blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Your classmates. Are they always this mean?”

Koushi fiddled with the hem of his jacket, unable to meet Hajime’s eyes. “Yeah,” he admitted. “Pretty much.”

“Ugh, _why?”_ Hajime's voice was thick with anger and disgust.

“I talk weird?” Koushi offered, shrinking.

_“That’s not a good reason!”_ Hajime shouted. Koushi flinched. When Koushi looked up, Hajime had his hands balled into fists, and was looking away from Koushi. “It’s stupid,” he said.

“I’m sorry…” Koushi replied.

“What are you apologizing for? It’s not your fault. They shouldn’t be like that.” Hajime shook his head, forcing himself to relax. “You should walk home with me and Tooru.”

Koushi hesitated. “I thought Tooru didn’t like me?”

“Tooru thinks you don’t like him.”

Koushi considered this. “I don’t… not like him?”

Hajime smiled. “I think you will. He’s a lot, but I like him. Also you said you did ballet, right?”

Koushi nodded.

“So he’ll like you too.” Hajime held out his hand. “Not just for that, I mean, but he does ballet too.”

Koushi stared at Hajime’s hand. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I want to,” Hajime said. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”

“You promise?”

Something flickered across Hajime’s face. His grin widened. “Yeah, I promise.”

Koushi took his hand, cautious but hopeful, and let Hajime lead him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked this, please consider commenting!
> 
> The first three chapters of this fic are functioning as my birthday presents for Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Suga, so you can expect Chapter Three on July 20, after which the update schedule will be more erratic.
> 
> Come join me on [Tumblr](http://verdigrisvagabond.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nitid_applegate)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koushi scuffed one of his shoes in the dirt. “I thought you could only have one, though,” he said.
> 
> “Huh?” Tooru tilted his hand to the side. “Can only have one what?”
> 
> Koushi looked away, suddenly very interested in his shoe.
> 
> “One best friend, I think,” Hajime filled in for him.
> 
> “Yeah,” Koushi agreed.
> 
> Tooru laughed, bright and loud. “That’s silly. My mom says I can have anything I want if I work hard for it,” he said, “And I want two best friends. Iwa-chan and Kou-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Tooru! Now you have both your best friends! Enjoy!

When Tooru got out of class, he didn’t see Hajime in the hallway. He frowned. Hajime had promised to wait for him, had promised that they’d walk home together. Tooru’s teacher had finished late, so Hajime should be done. Unless his class also got kept late. Of course.

Tooru wiped the frown off his face and skipped down the hall, poking his head into Hajime’s classroom. The only two people left in it were Hajime and the other neighbor kid, with the silver hair, whose name Tooru hadn’t bothered to remember. Tooru wrinkled his nose. Why was Hajime talking to someone who didn’t like them when they already had each other? He settled into a crouch to wait and listen.

“It’ll be fine, I promise,” Hajime said, holding out his hand.

“You promise?” The boy asked, his voice shaking.

Tooru sucked in a breath.

“Yeah,” Hajime replied, his voice warm and gentle, “I promise.”

Hajime pulled the boy out of his seat and they slid backpacks on, heading for Tooru’s door. Tooru, unsure of how to hide that he’d been eavesdropping, froze in alarm when they came out.

Hajime snickered. “How long were you listening?”

“I wasn’t listening!” Tooru protested, trying to sound aloof and ending up at “whiny” instead.

Hajime snickered again. “You were.”

Tooru pouted. “Fine,” he said, standing up. “What’s he doing here?” he asked, more than a little annoyed to expand their group. He had had plans for this afternoon, and they didn’t include another clingy kid that didn’t like him.

Hajime frowned at Tooru. “Be nice. He’s walking home with us.”

“Oh.” Tooru could live with that, if he had to. “Because he lives near us.”

Hajime’s frown deepened. “No, because we’re going to be friends. Be nice,” he repeated, in a tone that did not invite argument.

“Okay, fine!” Tooru said. “I’m sorry for being rude.”

Hajime looked satisfied. The other boy blinked at him, shocked.

“Let’s go then,” Tooru said, leading the way. “I wanna do something fun now. I’ve had way too much of school and of fancy clothes.” He gestured down at the suit his mom had made him wear and made a face.

Hajime and the boy didn’t move.

“Let’s go!” He repeated, jumping up and down for emphasis. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

Tooru took the stairs two at a time, excited to go play, even if Hajime was going to make him accommodate some boring kid. His mom said that there were a bunch of parks nearby, and so the first thing he wanted to do was take Hajime and go exploring. Of course, that meant that Hajime had to keep up with him, which was currently not happening. Tooru stopped at the school gate and waited for Hajime, who was just leaving the building, the neighbor kid still clinging to his arm.

“Walk faster!” He demanded.

“Be nice!” Hajime shouted back.

By the time Hajime caught up, Tooru was pouting again.

“Stop pouting,” Hajime said. “We’ll have time.”

Tooru groaned. “I wanna go now, though!”

“We’re going, we’re just going slower, ok? Geez.”

“But if we went faster, we could play sooner!”

“It’s fine, Tooru. Besides, I can’t talk to you if you don’t stop running.”

Tooru looked between Hajime and the neighbor kid and sighed. It looked like he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this. “Alright, Iwa-chan, fine. Is there anyone cool in your class?”

“Not really,” Hajime said. “It’s mostly a bunch of jerks except for Koushi.”

Koushi! That was his name! Suga-something Koushi. Tooru took a good look at Koushi for the first time, trying to see what Hajime saw in him. He was short, and was really good at using Hajime as a shield, so it was hard, but Tooru could see that his eyes were red and puffy and his mouth was set in a nervous line. Oh.

Tooru recognized the look on Koushi’s face all too well. He’d worn it before, and apparently he was very lucky not to be wearing it today. He decided, with then, that he was going to be nice like he meant it, not just to please Hajime. “Can I call you Kou-chan?” Tooru asked.

Koushi stiffened. “Kou-chan?”

“Mhm! It goes really well with Iwa-chan, which is what I call him!” He pointed at Hajime.

“I don’t like, Iwa-chan,” Hajime protested.

“Well, that’s too bad, because I do and I don’t want to have to come up with another nickname,” Tooru replied airily. “Is Kou-chan okay, though?” he asked Koushi.

Koushi thought for a minute. “I like Kou-chan,” he said.

“Perfect!” Tooru crowed. “Kou-chan and Iwa-chan. Those are your names forever now.”

Hajime groaned, but Koushi’s mouth relaxed a little.

“What should I call you though?” Koushi asked. Wow, he was quiet.

“Whatever you want!” Tooru said. “Nicknames can be anything. I like cute ones.”

“I don’t like stupid ones,” Hajime protested.

“Shush, Iwa-chan.”

Tooru stared expectantly at Koushi, who was still hiding behind  Hajime. “I called him Hedgehog,” Koushi admitted. “Before we met.”

Hajime stiffened. “Hedgehog?” he asked.

“Hedgehog?” Tooru screeched. He erupted into laughter, almost falling over.

“Why… Hedgehog?” Hajime asked, face bright red.

“Your hair,” Koushi admitted.

Tooru looked at Hajime’s hair. “It’s perfect Kou-chan. He looks just like a hedgehog!”

“I do not!” Hajime protested.

“I can pick a different name!” Koushi said hurriedly, his voice high and shaky.“If you don’t like that one I can pick something else! Don’t be mad,” he pleaded.

“I’m not mad!” Hajime said quickly. “I just don’t like it very much.”

“Aww, Iwa-chan, it’s perfect though.” Tooru turned to Koushi, still giggling. “What did you call me before we met?”

Koushi looked like he was bracing himself. “…Alien-boy,” he whispered.

“Alien-boy!” Tooru jumped up and began running in circles around the two of them. “Alien-boy, Alien-boy, Alien-boy!!!” He grabbed Koushi by the shoulders, ignoring Koushi’s flinch. “I love it,” he said.

“You do?” Koushi’s eyes were wide and fearful.

“I love aliens, so it’s perfect!” He let go of Koushi and started running again. “Alien-boy!” He shouted into the afternoon sky, laughing joyfully. When he circled back around, Koushi was smiling—it was a tiny smile, but it was there.

“You have to pick something real, though,” Hajime protested. “From our actual names. You can’t call me hedgehog at school,”

Tooru frowned. “Iwa-chan is no fun.”

“I’ll think about it,” Koushi said.

They rounded the corner onto their street. “I’ll meet you back here in five minutes!” Tooru shouted and darted into his own house, determined to get changed as fast as possible. “I’m home!” He called into the house as he ran up the stairs.

“Welcome home!” His mom shouted after him. “How was school?”

Tooru shucked off his clothes and changed into something his mom wouldn’t yell at him for getting dirty. “School was good!” He bolted back downstairs and ran into the kitchen to hug his mom. “My classes are fine, I made another friend, Iwa-chan and Kou-chan and I are gonna go find a park and go play IloveyouIgottagobye!” He turned away and took off at a run, but was jerked to a stop at the kitchen door by his mom, who had a fistful of his jacket.

“Did you hang your clothes up?” She asked.

Tooru threw a guilty glance over his shoulder. “Nnnnnyes,”

She gave him a look. He could feel it. “Tooru.”

Tooru groaned. His mom released him and he stomped back upstairs to hang his other clothes up. It’s a messy job, but serviceable. He stomped back downstairs, only to find his mom with a glass of water and an apple. “I don’t need a snack,” he protested.

It was futile. His mom stared him down until he ate the apple and drank the water. Then, she kissed him on the forehead and straightened his jacket while he fidgeted. “Have fun,” she said. “Try to be home by dark, or very soon after.”

“Okay!” He wriggled out of her grasp, impatient, and shoved his shoes on his feet. “Bye mom!”

“Bye!” She called after him.

Even with the delay, Tooru was still the first one back outside. He stood by his front gate, shifting his weight from foot to foot for a few moments, before he got impatient and ran next door. He banged on Koushi’s door until his mom came out. “Hi Mrs. Kou-chan’s mom!” he chirped. “Can Kou-chan come play?”

“Kou-chan?” She asked, a note of amusement in her voice. “You mean Koushi?”

“Yes, exactly. Kou-chan.”

She smiled at the name. “I don’t think so, honey,” she apologized. “He has dance today.”

Tooru frowned. “He didn’t say anything about dance,” he grumbled.

Koushi came downstairs and appeared behind his mom. “Next week, mother,” he said softly.

“Oh, is it?”

“Mhm.” He sat down and put his shoes on, taking care to lace them neatly. “I’m going out to play. I’ll be back later.” He paused. “Okay?”

“Well, if you don’t have dance today, I guess it’s fine,” she replied.

Koushi stands up and hugged her stiffly. “Bye mom,” he said, closing the door after him.

Tooru grabbed Koushi by the jacket sleeve and dragged him out to the road. “Why didn’t you tell me!” he cried.

“Tell you what?” Koushi squeaked. He gently pulled his sleeve out of Tooru’s grasp.

Tooru didn’t notice. “You do dance! That’s so cool!”

Koushi nodded carefully. “Ballet,” he said.

“That’s so cool! I do too!” Tooru did a messy pirouette. “See?”

The small smile was back on Koushi’s face. He repeated Tooru’s pirouette, except his was cleaner, and he had better balance.

“Wow!” Tooru cheered. “You’re really good!”

“Thank you,” Koushi said.

“Where do you dance?” Tooru started. “I hope we can be in classes together, because you’re really good, and that would be really fun, and my mom hasn’t found a dance studio yet. What part of ballet is your favorite? Mine is jumps! They feel like flying, and it’s super cool. Have you ever been on stage? I haven’t yet, but I really, really want to. We moved before I could be in a performance.”

While Tooru babbled, Koushi stared at him, shrinking under the onslaught, but less than before. The small smile never left his face, and his eyes were full of confusion and wonder. Tooru didn’t get it.

“You don’t talk very much, do you?” Tooru asked.

“I don’t like it,” Koushi replied.

Tooru considered this. “That’s okay. People say I talk too much.” He shrugged. “I guess we’re even, then.”

“Okay.”

Just then, Hajime walked around the corner of the apartment building, carrying a Tupperware full of onigiri.

“Iwa-chan!” Tooru scolded. “You took too long!”

Hajime ignored him. “My mom made us snacks,” he said to Koushi. “Want one?”

“What about me!” Tooru protested.

“There’s six in here! Of course you get some too, just not if you’re going to be rude.”

Tooru and Hajime continued squabbling for a minute, until Hajime finally opened the container. Tooru and Koushi each took an onigiri in each hand, and Hajime turned and ran back around the building.

“I’m going to give the container back,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t leave without me!”

“Iwa-chan!” Tooru complained.

Fortunately, Hajime was back before Tooru could really get going. They set off for the park, Koushi shyly leading, and ate as they walked.

“I thought of what to call you,” Koushi said, after he’d licked the last of the rice off his fingers.

“Ooooooh!” Tooru exclaimed around a mouthful of food. “Wha’ is i’?

“You’re Kawa,” Koushi said, pointing at him. “And you’re Iwa.”

Tooru swallowed. “Iwa and Kawa…. Hey, Iwa-chan, we match!” He gave Koushi a hug, pulling back when Koushi stiffened. “I like it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s great! What do you think, Iwa-chan?”

Hajime looked back and forth between their expectant faces. “It doesn’t have a ‘-chan’ on it, so I like it,” he said, finally.

Tooru squawked in protest. “Iwa-chan is a great nickname, though!”

“I don’t think it is.”

“Well, I do.”

Koushi let them bicker for a full three blocks, leading them around corners with nudges rather than words. He only stopped them once the park was in sight, and pointing at the playground.

Tooru crowed. “Kou-chan! This is awesome!” The playground’s most impressive feature was a jungle gym painted and shaped to look like a UFO. “We’re going to be best friends,” he told Koushi very seriously.

“Because he found you a spaceship?” Hajime asked with a laugh.

“Yes, Iwa-chan! Aliens are super important!”

Koushi scuffed one of his shoes in the dirt. “I thought you could only have one, though,” he said.

“Huh?” Tooru tilted his hand to the side. “Can only have one what?”

Koushi looked away, suddenly very interested in his shoe.

“One best friend, I think,” Hajime filled in for him.

“Yeah,” Koushi agreed.

Tooru laughed, bright and loud. “That’s silly. My mom says I can have anything I want if I work hard for it,” he said, “And I want two best friends. Iwa-chan and Kou-chan.”

“Really?” Koushi asked.

“Yes, really. You can have two best friends too, if you want. I’m sure Iwa-chan is fine with it.” Tooru grabbed Koushi by the sleeve of his jacket and began pulling him towards the UFO. “Let’s go! I wanna play!”

When Tooru looked back to make sure Hajime was following him too, Koushi was smiling. It was his widest smile yet, even if it was a little watery. Tooru grinned to match. “We’re gonna have fun, I promise,” he said. Then he turned, and broke into a run. “Last one there gets fed to the evil aliens!” he shouted, pulling Koushi along to make sure that his new best friend didn’t get left behind. Four steps in, Koushi proved himself to be the faster one, dragging Tooru along instead. Hajime still beat them both. It was good.ink it is.”

“Well, I do.”

Koushi let them bicker for a full three blocks, leading them around corners with nudges rather than words. He only stopped them once the park was in sight, and pointing at the playground.

Tooru crowed. “Kou-chan! This is awesome!” The playground’s most impressive feature was a jungle gym painted and shaped to look like a UFO. “We’re going to be best friends,” he told Koushi very seriously.

“Because he found you a spaceship?” Hajime asked with a laugh.

“Yes, Iwa-chan! Aliens are super important!”

Koushi scuffed one of his shoes in the dirt. “I thought you could only have one, though,” he said.

“Huh?” Tooru tilted his hand to the side. “Can only have one what?”

Koushi looked away, suddenly very interested in his shoe.

“One best friend, I think,” Hajime filled in for him.

“Yeah,” Koushi agreed.

Tooru laughed, bright and loud. “That’s silly. My mom says I can have anything I want if I work hard for it,” he said, “And I want two best friends. Iwa-chan and Kou-chan.”

“Really?” Koushi asked.

“Yes, really. You can have two best friends too, if you want. I’m sure Iwa-chan is fine with it.” Tooru grabbed Koushi by the sleeve of his jacket and began pulling him towards the UFO. “Let’s go! I wanna play!”

When Tooru looked back to make sure Hajime was following him too, Koushi was smiling. It was his widest smile yet, even if it was a little watery. Tooru grinned to match. “We’re gonna have fun, I promise,” he said. Then he turned, and broke into a run. “Last one there gets fed to the evil aliens!” he shouted, pulling Koushi along to make sure that his new best friend didn’t get left behind. Four steps in, Koushi proved himself to be the faster one, dragging Tooru along instead. Hajime still beat them both. It was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Now that I've gotten the three birthday chapters published, this fic will be going back to my standard update schedule, which is "whenever I have time." Thank you for your understanding!
> 
> Come join me on [Tumblr](http://verdigrisvagabond.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nitid_applegate)!


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